VOA常速英语:Milton’s Local：将纯天然农产品带去千万家

James Faison knows something about life on the farm, it’s a family tradition.
詹姆斯.费森对农场上的事了如指掌，这也算得上是家族传统了。

“My grandparents, Milton and Winnie Faison, were second generation farmers.And my grandfather passed away and left the farms to my siblings and I.And so that started to process, sort of trying to figure out what we were going to do with the farms.”
“我的祖父母弥尔顿.费森和温妮.费森是第二代农场主。祖父临终时把农场传给了我和兄弟姐妹们。于是我们便开始想各种对策，当时就是多多少少想要弄明白到底应该怎么样来经营这些农场。”

Gradually, Faison learned about the economic challenges facing small farmers.
一来二去，费森便了解到了小农场主们所面临的经济挑战。

“The issue with agriculture in America is we only spend 6.8 percent of our income on food,which is the lowest in any industrialized nation.We expect food to be inexpensive, which means in order to make a living doing it, you have to have really big volumes.And so, having big volumes of anything can be very expensive in terms of having enough cattle,having enough hog or having enough infrastructure to support having all them.”
“现如今美国农业所面临的问题就是，我们在食物上所花费的钱只占收入的6.8%，这个数目比任何一个工业化国家都要低。大家都希望食物能便宜一点，而这就意味着如果人们想要以农业为生，就必须要走量。如此一来，任何东西想要走量，代价都将十分昂贵，因为需要足够的牛、猪以及基础设施来作为后备。”

After meeting several farmers who raise animals free of hormones, antibiotics and steroids,Faison started Milton’s Local, a company named after his grandfather. It markets and distributes all-natural meat from local farms to wholesale clients, like restaurants and grocery stores.
当时费森接触了一些不用激素、抗生素或者类固醇来养殖牲畜的农场主，之后便开办了以祖父名字命名的Milton’s Local公司。公司推广和分销的全都是从当地农场收购的纯天然肉类，销往各类批发商，例如餐馆和杂货店。

Mom’s Organic Market in Arlington, Virginia, is one of the retailers that carry his products.The grocery chain is committed to selling all natural, organic products.
位于弗吉尼亚阿灵顿市的Mom’s Organic Market是一家零售商，也是费森的主顾之一。这家连锁店承诺只出售纯天然的有机产品。

“All the business decisions that we make are made in order to protect and restore the environment. We don’t have any products that include high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, artificial ingredients, nitrates, nitrites;things that are frequently found in meat.”
“我们所做的每一个商业决策都是为了保护和恢复环境。我们的所有产品均不含高果糖浆、人造色素、人工原料、硝酸盐以及亚硝酸盐等物质，总之，普通肉类当中经常会出现的东西我们绝不会添加。”

Milton’s Local products have been sold here for over a year and customers like them.That’s not just because they’re natural, but because they are produced by local farmers as well.
Milton’s Local在这里已经经营了一年多，公司产品深受消费者喜爱。因为它们不仅是纯天然产品，还是由当地农民生产的。

“The farmers are growing because we’re demanding more, because our customers are demanding more.”
“农民的数量越来越多，因为我们需要的越来越多，而归根结底是我们的消费者需要的越来越多。”

That’s good news for James Faison, who is currently working with about three dozen small farms in Virginia and North Carolina.His goal for Milton’s Local is to expand, generate higher profits and help more small farmers.
对于詹姆斯.费森来说这是个好消息，他现在正在跟位于弗吉尼亚和北卡罗莱纳的约三十几个小农场进行合作。他给Milton’s Local定下的目标就是，不断扩大规模，创造更大的收益来帮助更多的小农场主。